An elevator typically comprises an elevator car and a counterweight, which are vertically movable in a hoistway. These elevator units are interconnected by first ropes (later referred to as suspension ropes or upper ropes) that suspend these elevator units on opposite sides of rope wheels mounted higher than the elevator units. For providing force for moving the suspension ropes, and thereby also for the elevator units, one of the wheels is typically a drive wheel engaging the suspension ropes, which drive wheel is rotated by a motor. Additionally, the elevator may need to be provided with second ropes between the elevator car and the counterweight, which second ropes hang from the elevator car and the counterweight. This type of arrangement is normally used to provide compensation for the weight of the hoisting ropes. Particularly, in this way the unbalance, which is caused by the suspension ropes in situations where the elevator car is run to its extreme position, can be eliminated. The second ropes can be guided to pass around a rope wheel mounted stationary in some suitable position lower than said elevator units. In the prior art, the rope ends have been fixed on the bottom structures of the car side by side in one long row, and the other end to the counterweight in a corresponding array.
A drawback of the solutions according to the prior art has been that when there's a need for numerous second ropes, the overall space consumption of the ropes causes layout problems. A wide row of ropes forms an obstacle that limits positioning of other components of the elevator. The width of the bottom beam of the car frame is often problematic, for instance. Generally, in elevators in relatively narrow space must be fitted several components, such as roller guides, safety gears, safety support, buffer plates and the hanger for the ropes. These several components typically need to be placed close to the vertical guide rail plane extending across the car projection. Also in the pit, the buffers and the rope wheels must be fitted in the same narrow space between the guides. The direct disadvantages of the know solutions come apparent in high rise—solutions where the number of ropes is typically the highest. In these solutions, the width of the hardware starts to significantly reduce freedom to use layouts that are preferred to optimize positioning of other components and thereby also the other functions of the elevator. With conventional ropes there is the possibility to use larger diameter ropes so as to reduce number of ropes, but these kiunds of ropes are problematic during installation and their diverting requires rope wheels with large diameter.
The above mentioned drawbacks have been noticed to be particularly problematic if the elevator is to be manufactured with belt-shaped ropes, because these kinds of ropes are particularly space consuming in the width direction. These issues regarding space consumption have been especially relevant in elevators where not only the rope structure as such but also the lateral guidance of the ropes requires lot of space.